Burlodge Canada Announces Pandemic Plan For Business Continuity
All Burlodge Canada Offices are operating normally and have entered a “heightened awareness” phase as part of the company’s Pandemic Action Plan in response to the World Health Organization (WHO) Stage 5 announcements concerning the H1N1 flu (swine flu).
“We have invested considerable time and resources and made new investments into upgraded Information Technology so we can be fully prepared in case of a Pandemic,” says Company President, Paul Gauntley. “ Our action plans have been developed to make sure we continue supporting our clients across the country in a seamless way so that they can continue to operate with confidence at a time when business will not be business as usual”.
Burlodge Canada has developed a functional Pandemic Action Plan as part of its internal Business Continuity Management Plans. The Pandemic Action Plan includes specific, pre-planned actions at various stages of alert and is connected to the WHO, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and national governments’ stages of pandemic response.
As part of the “heightened awareness” there is now a ‘no hand shaking’ policy in effect. Burlodge takes great pride in the relationships and partnerships it has across the country with its clients, vendors, and industry peers. “The fact that we will not be shaking hands should demonstrate the respect we have for our industry relationships as well as the strength of our plan itself”, says Beata Korzeniewski, company Controller and Pandemic Planning Team Leader. “Our team operate in a professional way and we want to take every precaution so we can continue supporting our clients if they are under pressure due to a pandemic. Our actions today may seem over the top but we want to be very proactive”.
A key to the Burlodge Canada pandemic action plan is the series of proactive steps that will be initiated at each of the alert phases issued by the World Health Organization. Secondly, the training of staff in awareness of infection control has been, and continues to be, a strength of the plan. Some further highlights of the plan include:
1. The ability for all staff to work from home and access emails, launch office applications, retrieve voice mail, and communicate with peers using text messaging
2. The creation of a Business Continuity Manager position within the company as well as implementation of a communication tree that will facilitate communications and execution of action plans
3. The IT Infrastructure upgrades, enabling company servers to be monitored and completely controlled off-site in case a local office is not accessible. This includes the ability to start servers from outside the office in case of a power outage as well as the inclusion of continuity services from Microsoft in case of complete server failure
4. The implementation of Code Orange and Code Red policies for Office, Travel, and Client Site Visit protocols
5. The development of ‘illness at work’ and special sickness policies to manage containment and enhance staff safety
6. The development of Social Distancing Policies within the office and outside at client locations
7. The implementation of Contact Tracing practices to monitor who our staff have connected with during specific alert phases
8. The commitment to inventory parts and high frequency tray ware items in case vendor shipping connections are not operational, allowing clients access to stockpiles of some critical items.
Burlodge staff continue to meet weekly for training and planning reviews. If clients have any questions about the Pandemic Plan, they can direct their enquiries to Paul Gauntley at pgauntley@burlodgeca.com.
Burlodge Canada provides a wide range of equipment for various models of meal delivery, from conventional hot meals to cook/chill, cold-plating and retherm settings. Not only do we provide equipment and ancillary wares, but we also offer 24/7 support and service for everything we sell. Our model of Partnership and Spirit of Excellence has elevated Burlodge Canada to the country’s leader in Advanced Meal Delivery Systems in Health Care Food Services. With commitment, experience and talented people Burlodge provides innovative feeding systems that enable its Customers to deliver quality meals with confidence.
